Marching into March with the NSD Challenge

purpleorchid

morning all

nice new thread for march thank you guys for taking over from spoon. last month was my 1st challenge and i enjoyed doing it. i learnt a few thigns about my spending habits so have actually set myself a budget this month, as i didnt really have an idea at the beginning of feb.so for march i would like to go for

20 NSDS AND 5 IN A ROW

this is what i achieved this month so thought i would try again.
i am not including my DD,CC or catalogue payments as these are bills that have to be paid no matter what. so i will only be concentrating on spend days asides from bill days.

good luck to everyone

Luv P
xx

cw18

Time to calculate a target again - I swear this day comes around faster every month :eek:

31 days in the month
potentially 6 days with D/Debits (no council tax again), leaving 25
1 day for window cleaners, leaving 24
looking at one very long stretch between D/Debits (15 days!) and one week where the d//debit is too early to buy food for the weekends (esp if I want fresh fish and/or veg), so 3 days out for groceries which takes me down to 21
and another week where if the (3) D/Debits happen to fall together it could be too soon for a food shop, so down to 20

but 20 sounds terribly optimistic to me !!! January had 31 days and I scraped 19, so even without the council tax I'm a little scared to set my sights that high

plus the weather is starting to improve a bit, so I can see my chap and I trying to head out at weekends - and that could mean spends

so if I allow for a 'leisure spend' every weekend that takes me down to 15 - and gives me some scope to increase my target as I doubt we'll go out every weekend (or that I'll end up spending every time we do)

so can you please sign me up for 15 NSDs, which is the highest initial target I've had so far this year !!!!!!

QueenB.

A lovely new thread and I am feeling much more organised this month but I do have DS1 birthday to plan so I am going to aim for


Target 16 NSDs

Target two 4 in a row.

Away we go:j Good luck fellow NSDers.

freshair_2

Morning All,

Lovely new thread and what a beautiful day it is.

Would like to try 20 this month, that still leaves 11 spendy days which is about a third of the month, obviously I am justifying my insanity to myself here!

So 20 NSD, 4 in a row

Thanks very much

IF

Hi lovely NSD gang:A
As you can see there is lots of activity on this challenge at the moment and it's difficult sometimes to see how many NSDs you're all declaring on posts.
Could I ask you to highlight your number of NSDs in a colour and in bold so that I can see them easily when I whizz through the posts - red would be best but I don't really mind as long as I can see the numbers easily.

Some helpful suggestions and ideas to follow below from our sponsor and godmother, BigMummaF :A

NO SPEND CHALLENGE.

1. Have a good, long think about what YOU want to include in your Spend & Excluded categories.
Some of us count everything from Direct Debits & school expenses, while others do not include things like essential Bills or emergency medical costs. If you plan what is or is not a Spend for you now, it will help you decide on a realistic Target.
2. It is NOT a race!
We all have very different demands on our time & bank balance, so please do not think you have to buy everything on 1st January & make it last till 31st December! A few of us have been following this Challenge for a long...long...LONG time so have developed plans & ploys to help us along the way
3. Most important of all, WE..DO..NOT..FAIL!
Sometimes we can't quite reach our Target, but that is fine Everyone knows how Life will try to trip us up, & that is when you will find us here to help you back on to your feet.

OK, an idea of how some of us do things.
1. What you will or will not include as a 'Spend'.
Some people are doing other Challenges too, & don't include the money spent on those for this one.
Some will try to shop for other bits on the days their direct debits etc go out of their bank accounts; they're the real hard core of the bunch & have been l-o-n-g time Nsders so don't panic
Some won't count those annoying last minute demands from school & collections as you can't plan for them in advance, likewise emergency prescriptions or visits to the vet
Personally speaking & providing I don't buy anything else, I don't count parking for hospital appointments.(..but then I usually do my shopping because I'm already out :whistle:)
General thoughts on €bay sales is the buyer has paid P&P so no cost to you
2. It takes Time to reach mega-numbers!
The First suggestion is the first, because a bit of planning will work wonders on your road to your Target. Have a look at Solvent's (aka Spoon:rotfl:) first posts each month for a hefty list of other Threads that may be of help. For example, there's a few giving ideas for packed lunches so you can avoid standing in the queue at the bakers for 45mins of your lunch hour! A good incentive to tweak your healthy eating & the pounds you save will show in your bank balance AND your waistline
It helps to have various 'money pots' for the different costs that happen like Scouts, dinner money, yoga, window cleaner etc etc. The idea is you "spend" all that money in one hit by..:think:..let's say **putting the week's bus fares into the pretty coffee jar, Jo's tumble tots SIZE=2]Weds mornings[/SIZE in the cracked teapot & Ben's £1 coin for the gym locker SIZE=2]Friday lunch[/SIZE in the pocket of the changing bag, on Tuesdays every week when you've got some change from doing the food shop, so an already spendy day. At least four 'spending days' condensed into one (**mine's jam jars for windows, milkman & a bit towards the bills!)
3. Any day the money stays in your pocket is a bonus!
If you look at it as a day you beat the system, you can't help but :j so don't fret it--ENJOY! If nothing else in here, we do manage find something to make us smile

We have virtual outings to wonderful places that never cost us a bean :rotfl:New York, Edinburgh & Brighton have been a couple & Spoon usually pilots the Tardis but you can use your own transport; my personal favourite has been a sit-on lawn mower borrowed from the cricket club The only thing to be aware of is Hubert the donkey who is partial to anything remotely edible but is not yet house-trained

And Remember;
there are no silly questions, so don't be afraid to ask us anything!

chris81418

Good morning everyone! :wave:

Thanks for this month's thread BDINI! :T And thanks in advance to LMH and freeby for helping to run it! :T

I'd like to pledge my usual lucky 19 NSDs as my target as well as 6 NSDs in-a-row for the Hall of Fame Challenge!

Good luck everyone with catching lots of NSDs this month!

And have a great month!

Keiss_21

Thanks BDINI and others for getting this thread up and running.

Think I will go for 18 NSDs again, and will try for some more 4-in-a rows again.

Seems to work for me, then I can try and sneak a few more if I can at the end of the month.

Have a good Wednesday everyone x

lashley82

back for a second shot at the title

After last months trial I'm going to be going for 15 this month, but with one eye on going way above and beyond that. This month I'm going to try and count direct debits and bills too...

rising_from_the_ashes

Thanks BDINI for starting the new thread .... and to LMH and Freeby for helping with the updates.

Well, lets see ... a couple of extra days in March so .... 16 and 4 in a row for me please

Good luck everyone!:D

mon1o

Hi everyone :wave:

First go for me doing this so im going to ask for 15 NSDs please - not counting any dd's or bills that must be paid or food shopping or petrol as i have separate pots for these so it will be what i class as "unnecessary spending" hope thats not breaking the rules